Three weeks ago I mentioned in my blog that I exercise at the recreation center on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus. The facilities are for the students, but currently employed and retired staff can pay an annual fee and use the weight room and the running track. I usual go mid-morning, which is not a popular time for most non-students. On some days I am 45 years older than everyone else in the building.
My usual routine is to work on a few exercise machines in the weight room and then go up to the second floor for an hour on an elliptical. The second floor is primarily an indoor running track, but there are StairMasters, treadmills, stationary bikes, and ellipticals along the track’s perimeter. I wish I could jog around the track instead of running in place on the elliptical, but my knees can no longer handle the pounding of a run.
After I finish my workout, I usually rest on a bench for a few minutes before heading into the locker room for a shower. One day I didn’t even find a bench, but instead sat on the floor in an open space behind the exercise machines. I must have sat there too long, because one of the students came over to make sure that I was all right. He saw that I had earbuds in (just like everyone else in the place), so he didn’t say anything. He just put on a quizzical face and gave me two thumbs up. I told him that I was fine, so he smiled and walked away.
I came away from this small event with two realizations. One, some of the most well-intentioned people I know are UWL students, and this kid was doing the right thing by looking out for the wellbeing of a stranger. Two, there were two other people sitting on the floor not twenty feet away from me, but I was the one who looked like he needed help.
I have chosen to commend the young man’s good intentions and ignore the fact that he thought I might be someone who couldn’t get up off the floor. For the record, I can get off the floor on my own. It is climbing out of my kayak after an afternoon on the river that gives me problems.
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